Thousand was adopted on January 26, 2005. We found him at the Ewing, Illinois holding facility. Thousand came from Utah and had been in the system for over three years. He had been offered for adoption twice. If he wasn't chosen the next time he would have been sold outright. We may have saved him from being one of the unfortunate horses that went to slaughter when the Burns Rider first became law but we didn't know it at the time.
    Thousand, that is his registration number, seemed to have the curiosity about him that is supposed to make a wild horse easier to gentle. Besides, I could see that he would be a nice coppery sorrel with a blond mane and tail and four light colored socks, two white socks on the rear feet and two blond ones on the front , when he was cleaned up. On the day we met him he was shaggy and heavily matted with mud and muck from the holding pens. On January 28 Thousand came to Roads End Farm.
    In the two years since we adopted Thousand we have came to love him very much. He is the leader of our herd of three mustangs and two humans, dealing out discipline to the other horses and guarding them. He loves being petted and will leave his food to be with you. He is friendly and accepting of all humans who approach him. He is clearly one in a Thousand
    The top picture is Thousand's first day home. Why adopt such a poor looking horse? Because within a year he'll change into the horse in the bottom picture.

This graphic of Thousand was used
on the cover of Living Legends magazine
in 2004